August 7th is celebrated as the National Handlooms day to mark the 1905’s “Swadeshi movement” that boycotted British products to revive domestic products and production processes. On August 7th, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first National handloom day to encourage people to use handmade loom in the country. Smriti Irani, the textile minister of India had posted on twitter and tweeted, “Indian handlooms symbolises India’s heritage & culture. Wear it to carry on our rich tradition and support 43 lakh weavers & their families.” And after this she went ahead and started the Selfie with the handloom campaign by uploading a picture of herself wearing a beautiful blue colored handloom silk saree with a red border with#IWearHandloom where she mentioned to share your look & tag 5 people. Soon, the hashtag started trending and many politicians, fashionista to cricketers started participating in the campaign. I know it’s been awhile since the campaign now, but let’s just take a look back at the celebrities in the fashion industry who was seen in handloom sarees after that.
1. Kirron Kher:
With the Gaurang shah’s patan patola creation, kirron kher sizzled the ramp at the Lakme fashion week. She represented Gujarat sporting the concept of Stree Dhan and looked stunning.
2. Virendar Sehwag:
At a Fashion show in Kolkatta, the cricketer walked the ramp for a fashion show wearing a handwoven sherwani and went ahead and tweeted the hashtag writing Handloom pehno,ekdum Free Ho jaao!
3. Kangana Ranaut:
The queen of Bollywood who is a national award winner ups the glamour quotient whenever she steps out. And when she wore a handloom saree, she looked more than gorgeous.
4. Anita Dongre:
An ace Fashion designer wore a Bhagalpuri shift dress with Bhujodi shawl and showed that the traditional craftsmanship ain’t just restricted to Indian clothes.
Now these are just a few names, the use of handlooms has definitely increased from the campaign. Well, obviously even my intention to bring this topic back is to spread awareness about the Indian textiles and the beautiful handicrafts that sometimes go faded. There’s a tantalizing Banarsi, Charismatic Chanderi, mesmerizing Kanchi, gracious gadwal, etc. India is filled with beauty of handicrafts and these weaves are just dreamy. They are wonderful to be worn for any wedding functions or formal occasions. Samyakk showcases these authentic collections of handloom sarees that are larger than life. Do check out www.Samyakk.com to explore their vast variety of sarees, lehengas, salwars and much more for your ethnic desires.
Sam Antwon is a B.Tech graduate in Fashion Technology, a fashion lover and provides information on latest trends in fashion. He works at Samyakk.com as a fashion consultant and content marketing specialist.